This past race weekend highlighted the duality that Works Drivers have to endure. There's the glitz and glam of it all, which is often captured, but there's also the crushing lows to accompany it. There's an ebb and flow, and I've come to discover it this past weekend.
Related: Toyota GR Cup heads to Red Star Raceway - Round 2 Pre Race Talk
Red Star Raceway is a technical track, but the complexity was compounded by the rainy weather brought on by the incoming cold fronts ushering in winter. I find wet-weather driving satisfying, as it adds an unpredictable dynamic to a race, and the fun factor is also significantly higher because the GR Corolla's Four Wheel Drive system makes it a weapon in those conditions.
Practice Time
Again, I utilised simulation training to familiarise myself with the clockwise direction for Red Star Raceway. At least 100 laps were done. The caveat, though, is that the version of the track I had available had quite a few inaccuracies and was unfinished, with no brake markers and some other track features missing. Nevertheless, it was better than going in blind.
Considering how the last round ended, dusting myself off and getting my head back in the game for this Round was priority number one, along with keeping the car in one piece. My car was ready to rumble as well! Unfortunately, this is where things started to fall apart...
Due to damage from the last round, my gearbox wasn't cooling properly, leading to overheating and sending the car into limp mode just short of 2 laps out. The Racing Gremlins were out to party, it seemed. It was now a mad dash to figure out what was wrong, and after some process of elimination, we found a potential airlock in the gearbox cooling system that needed to be cleared. However, I had to scrap the Practice Day, which was quite costly since I had next to no seat time. Not exactly confidence-inspiring.
Qualifying
The night before saw some downpour, leaving the track quite wet and patchy. Wet conditions can level the playing field, but there was a lot more at stake now for me, considering how practice went. It was again a mad dash to make sure the car was solid for the session, with the jack stands only coming down as the start horn went off. I had to settle in quickly and find time within the 20-minute session. The GR Corolla felt fantastic to chuck about on the wet tarmac. With Expert modes engaged, the GR-Four system had confidence slicing and dicing through Red Star's 13 turns. That was short-lived, though, as the gremlins returned after lap 2, taking away what would have been a 3rd place qualifier, ending not only the qualifying but the race weekend as a whole, with a DNS (Did Not Start). My car had to be retired, as the issue appears to be bigger than originally thought, and it's in the interest of avoiding further damage.
Gutted was an understatement.
Final Thoughts
Unfortunately, the DNS has cost me points in the championship, and now further investigation is needed to figure out what's wrong with my car. Don't get me wrong, though: the GR Corolla is a robust car; it's just unfortunate that gremlins have appeared as a result of accident damage, which no one could have foreseen. It can happen to any car.
This weekend was a test of mental fortitude in a stressful situation, and rather than build that now early in the season to come back fighting for gold.
A massive thank you goes out to the mechanics at the TGRSA setup for hustling to fix the car despite the situation. The crowd at Red Star certainly enjoyed the action the GR Cup drivers put out for the weekend.
Next up: Zwartkops Raceway, Midrand, Gauteng - 23 May 2026
Where can I buy tickets and watch the livestream?
You can buy tickets for the events on Webtickets.co.za. If you can't catch the event but want to livestream it, you can watch it on Extremefestival.co.za, the Extreme Festival Facebook page, or 2WheelsTV on YouTube.
